For many people, the focus on Valentine’s Day is a romantic dinner.
But Kylee Scales is kicking things off with a special breakfast in Kylee’s Kitchen.
Heart-shaped cinnamon pecan coffee cake

Ingredients for filling
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
Ingredients for dough
- 14 grams active dry yeast
- 6 ounces water
- 11 ounces all-purpose flour
- 7 grams salt
- 1 ounce granulated sugar
- 14 grams nonfat dry milk powder
- 1 ounce unsalted butter
- 1 small egg
OTHER OPTIONS FOR DOUGH: 1 roll of your favorite store-bought sweet dough, thawed (Kylee’s choice) or 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
Ingredients for glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon maple extract or vanilla extract
Directions for filling
- Mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in medium bowl.
- Stir in melted butter and pecans. Set aside.
Directions for dough (skip to step 9 if you do not need to make the dough)
- Dissolve yeast in water in bowl.
- Combine flour, salt, sugar, milk powder,
- shortening, butter and eggs in bowl of mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- Add the water/yeast mixture; stir to combine.
- Knead on medium speed 10 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl; cover and place in a warm spot. Bulk
- ferment until it doubles, approximately 1 hour.
- Punch down dough. Let it rest a few minutes to allow the gluten to relax.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Roll dough into rectangle, approximately 10” x 12”
- Sprinkle filling across surface of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edges.
- Roll the dough jellyroll-style into a log.
- Fold the dough in half on top of itself. The fold should be facing you.
- Cut through the middle of the dough, both the top and bottom layers, stopping about 2 inches from the cut ends.
- Move dough to baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Open up the cut ends and lay them flat so it looks like a heart shape. You’ll want to pull the two top lobes out farther than you think because they’ll spread when they bake.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it’s lightly browned and the dough is cooked through.
Directions for glaze
- While coffee cake is cooling, whisk together powdered sugar and cinnamon. Pour in milk and maple extract or vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Pour glaze over coffee cake. Sprinkle with additional toasted pecans if desired.